Link to article: ARCADIA'S "ASTRAL VOID" GAME TRILOGY IS NOTHING MORE THAN AN OFFENSIVE JOKE!.
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[[include :scp-wiki:component:toggle-sidebar]] [[include :scp-wiki:theme:words-of-wisdom]] [[>]] [[module rate]] [[/>]] [[=]] ++ INTRODUCTION: [[/=]] Hello readers. Normally, I would leave this kind of review to the 15th Wandsman of Pasia's wonderful "[[[https://scp-wiki.wikidot.com/escape-from-your-greatest-fears-a-review|Game On!]]]" column, but this is a special case. Recently, it came to my attention that the video game company known as "[[[https://scp-wiki.wikidot.com/arcadia-hub|Arcadia]]]" has produced, in collaboration with a substantial amount of my colleagues, a trilogy of games based around and shamelessly titled after my homeland, The Astral Void. In this article, I will review each of the games in the trilogy in as much detail as I can without ripping my beak off in frustration. @@ @@ [[=]] ++ GAME 1: +++ Temperance Of The Astral Void [[/=]] = [[image AV1.png]] = The game's title card. To give credit where it is due, this first entry is certainly the series' strongest from a gameplay standpoint. The gunplay is decent, albeit quite simplistic, and the RPG elements are as engaging as Arcadia's typical affair, if lacking their usual depth. If the game's story held up to this mediocrity, that would've been fine. But it is here, where I draw my ire with this crap. The story follows one "Ethan" as he is tasked by the United States military with exploring the Astral Void and slaying an evil king. The game touts its story to be based of real events, but let me assure you, it is little more than offensive slander. The primary antagonist of this game, one "Evil King Winterforth", seemingly bears most resemblance to Forwinter the Bold, the King of the Nation of Boreas during the Ninth Tesseractica War. If this was an intentional comparison, this can be called nothing less than shameless defiling of a great man's legacy. Forwinter the Bold was well renowned as a progressive ruler who, unlike his bastard son and eventual successor, allowed cross kingdom travel and mating. He was one of the three founding members of the Onyx Calbllade and a forerunner in the starpunk movement. The game portrays him as a slobbering bigot without an ounce of common sense. This is not only incorrect, this is taking a shit on the ruler's grave. There are more problems with the story than its antagonist however. For instance, the protagonist and his allies evoke the symbolism of the O.R.K.D.E.R. republic. For those who don't know, they were the cause of the sixth, seventh and eighth Tesseractica wars, each of which were caused when they attempted to desecrate the grave of Sir Terwal, who (if you didn't know) CREATED THE ASTRAL VOID! Evoking the imagery of such a radical, unsympathetic group of blasphemous heretics, is nothing more than an insult to all of those who fought for the existence of the void and all of its people. These story choices alone are my reason for giving this game a 2/10. @@ @@ [[=]] ++ GAME 2: +++ Inferno In The Astral Void [[/=]] = [[image AV2.png]] = The game's title card. Surprisingly, Arcadia scrapped the gunplay entirely in this entry, instead leaning much harder into the RPG mechanics that the first game set up. However, the new systems introduced in this entry to balance the lack of gunplay (such as Espionage, Farming and more RTS mechanics) somehow are even more lacking in depth than the systems that were carried over. The story in this entry seems to immediately follow up the last. Ethan wakes up from a short coma after slaying the "evil king" only to realise he now must defend the newly formed nation from an incoming prophesised fate. It became clear to me through the course of the game that Ethan was meant to be a stand in for Max Slamagne, the tyrannical monarch of the O.R.K.D.E.R. Republic and slayer of Forwinter the Bold. With this realisation in hand, I realised that the first game's series of events rung eerily similar to the propaganda the Republic had churned out in its hay day. Regardless of intention, this is not the desirable outcome in any scenario. The antagonist of this game only makes this realisation worse, being a clear allegory for the resistance groups. All of this wrapped in a package that's visuals are a definitive downgrade from the prior game, despite a drastic increase in the hardware quality. This crap is a vulgar joke delivered via a middle finger. 1/10. @@ @@ [[=]] ++ GAME 3: +++ War For The Astral Void [[/=]] = [[image AV3.png]] = The game's title card. The gunplay returns in this entry, its even the first thing in the tutorial after the basic controls. While one would admire what this game is attempting, seemingly wanting to simultaneously be both a first person shooter and real-time strategy game, this ambition falls flat with Arcadia's continued inability to follow through on any promises they seem to make. The most surprising addition in this entry is the ability to play as "Darstant" for a "new game plus" challenge. This is clearly meant to evoke my mentor Tnatsrad, the Second Wandsman of The Astral Void, especially considering the character's androgynous figure and distinctive yellow scarf. Due to his unfortunate passing not so long ago, this portrayal solely comes off to me as a blatant mockery of all of his ideals and doctrine. My mentor would NEVER side with a dictatorial regime, let alone the one that killed his first husband and severely wounded his child. The story of this game, directly following the second entry's events, follows the now elder Ethan as he attempts to defend the Astral void from an almost imperceptibly powerful United States of America. This is a clear parallel to the Tenth and final Tesseractica war, wherein the O.R.K.D.E.R. Republic were wiped out by a group calling themselves the "Galactic Occult Coalition", not to be confused with the "Global Occult Coalition". Surprisingly for this trilogy, this is a quite accurate depiction of the wars order of events. Not surprisingly, these events are twisted on their head to make the O.R.K.D.E.R. Republic appear heroic! That's right, this game continues to push the propaganda of the prior entries that the Republic was "misunderstood" and "of a different time". The Republic lined its walls with the hands of the innocent as they dined on the guts of good value. The Republic slaughtered my friends, the Republic slaughtered my family, the Republic almost slayed me! And yet I live on! The Republic burned in the ashes of its ambition and buckled under the weight of divine retribution! The Republic was not the hero. The Republic wrote its history with the blood it spilled. The Republic spat in the face of fate and was rendered obsolete. This game uses the image of my mentor to spout Pro-O.R.K.D.E.R. rhetoric and that, my dear readers, will never be tolerated. 0/10. @@ @@ [[=]] ++ CONCLUSION: [[/=]] As this article comes to a close, I have one last point to make. Let it be known, I do not hold my grudge solely with Arcadia, they only draw a fraction of my disdain for producing this filth, but with those among us Wandsmen who partook in this orkwashing of my homeland's history. I shall not point fingers and spit the names of these individuals, for they know who they are, but let it be known, these games have no value as pieces of historical documentation and/or teaching tools. They serve no other purpose than to attempt to wash away the vile actions of the Republic. Rest be assured, I will not let the Republic's actions be relegated to the forgotten margins of history. I will not let their carnage be forgotten. For those who wish to read up on the TRUE history of The Astral Void, I recommend the following sources (which are also the ones I drew upon for the above review); # **Magnum Tesseracticar Volumes 1-4** by ILLILILL (This lengthy manuscript covers all 10 Tesseractica wars in excruciating detail.) # **The Blade That Slayed The Heavens And Hells** by Miy Wellhardy (Necessary reading for those who wish to learn of the Void's creation at the hands of Sir Terwal.) # **Wellhell Flower** by an anonymous author (Although the author of this tome is unknown, their usage of the stylings of ILLILILL and Quaytaia Kwomda make this look into the Republic's inner workings particularly engaging.) # **The Galactic Overkill Coalition** by the Galactic Occult Coalition (A simple, easy to read book showing of the Coalition's entire history.) Good morrow. //**Mergrease the Sceptical, Third Wandsman of The Astral Void -- Assessor of Quantum Infernos, Roamer of Greater Libraries, Devourer of Feathered Arachnids**//